Complaints about Gambling Operators - The Gambling Commission

Contact us: 0203 621 3908 or 07827 961764 or by email to enquiries@promediate.co.uk

GUIDANCE FOR BUSINESSES

We have been approved to provide ADR in the field of gambling for the following sectors: Adult Gaming Centre, Betting, Bingo, Casino, Family Entertainment Centres, Lotteries and Remote (All Sectors).

We are: an independent alternative dispute resolution service, ProMediate (UK) Limited, which has been set up to resolve disputes between customers and businesses in the UK in accordance with the ADR Directive and ODR Regulations.

ProMediate (UK) Limited is registered with the Civil Mediation Council and authorised by Trading Standards and the Gambling Commission.

We will accept any complaints about a business, subject to the terms of acceptance, to include both domestic and cross-border disputes, including disputes referred via the online dispute resolution platform.

Ours is a voluntary mediation process, as opposed to an Ombudsman or Arbitration style process where a decision is imposed on the parties.

There are membership fees of £100 per annum in return for which ProMediate will provide suggested wording to insert into the business’ terms and conditions and regular newsletters as well as other member benefits. Alternatively, larger businesses can agree an all inclusive membership fee to include a number of mediations.

The members of the British Racecourse Bookmakers’ Association are members and do not have to pay an additional fee as we are their ADR Provider.

Our Charges

For Gambling Commission cases, the consumer does not pay a fee.

The Business indicates agreement to the terms and conditions of the of the mediation process when submitting their Response.

The alternative dispute resolution scheme for Gambling Disputes is designed to save businesses and consumers the cost of bringing Court proceedings, which can be expensive.

The ADR Process

Full details of the ADR process can be found on our Gambling Disputes Guidance page.

A customer can be referred to us after:

The customer has exhausted the business’s complaints procedure and

you have told the customer that they are eligible to in an email or “deadlock” letter (where you have come to the end of the internal complaints handling process and the dispute has not settled).

You should consider the contents of the customer’s complaint and supporting documents, how you will respond and whether you are prepared to compromise.

Refusals Policy

We will assess the customer’s application against the Refusals Policy criteria, and if the dispute does not fall within the scope of the scheme, they will be told by us and their application will not be referred to a mediator.

The business will also have the opportunity to object to the acceptance of the application if it considers that the dispute is outside the scope of the scheme. In such circumstances we will rule on the validity of the application and the decision will be final.

If any of the following apply then we cannot deal with the complaint:

if prior to submitting the complaint, the consumer has not attempted to contact the business concerned in order to discuss the complaint and sought, as a first step, to resolve the matter directly with the business.

any dispute or disputes that are and considered by us to be frivolous and/or vexatious.

the dispute is being or has been previously considered by another ADR entity (such as a different mediator or Ombudsman) or by a Court

the value of the claim is worth more £10,000.

the consumer has not submitted the complaint within 12 months from the date upon which the business has given notice to the consumer that the business is unable to resolve the complaint with the consumer.

The customer should only apply if their dispute falls within the criteria of acceptable cases detailed above. If you consider that the dispute falls outside the scheme, you can contact us about this.

The maximum claim amount is £10,000 per purchase or transaction. Disputes over this value can be dealt with by ProMediate outside the ADR scheme.

Where, in accordance with the policy on refusals we are unable to consider a dispute submitted to it, we will provide both parties with a reasoned explanation of the grounds for not considering the dispute within 3 weeks of receiving the ‘complaint file’, unless we have been misled by one of the parties into considering a dispute.

Response to the claim

The business will then have an opportunity to explain their response to the claim in the Response and to provide any documents upon which they rely.

The Response should include details of:

the business’ service which the dispute is about;

the events leading to the complaint;

the precise issues which are in dispute;

the steps already taken to attempt to reach a resolution with the customer;

the reasons for rejecting the complaint;

proposals for resolving the claim;

and any relevant supporting documents – remember it will help if you can provide evidence to support your response.

We are an impartial, independent dispute resolution service; we will not act for either you or the customer. However, negotiations will only take place during the mediation process and we cannot be asked to take extra steps outside the mediation process.

Please note that in relation to Gambling Commission ADR processes, we are obliged to disclose any information provided to us by the Operator in the interests of fairness and transparency, unless this would contravene other legislation. In order not to contravene our code of conduct as mediators, which provides that information provided by the parties is confidential unless otherwise stated, we have to point this out at the outset, before information is provided to us.

Mediation Settlement Agreements

We cannot make the business comply with any settlement agreement reached, but a settlement agreement will be binding on the parties (and is enforceable using other agencies, including the Court).

During the process, the mediator may make suggestions for resolving the dispute. Remember that in all cases the mediator cannot order the business to pay the customer or to take any action or provide any goods or service. The parties have to apply to other agencies to enforce the agreement if it is not honoured.

Reconsideration and Appeals

Please note that there is no appeals process as we do not make any decisions. We will reconsider a customer’s complaint within 3 months of the outcome, if they provide us with new information, in which case the process recommences.

Membership fees: £100 plus VAT per annum to include wording for inclusion of Click2Resolve in terms and conditions. Members of the British Racecourse Bookmakers’ Association are members as we are their ADR Provider.

Members pay a fee per mediation/ADR process.

Businesses may negotiate an all inclusive package to include a certain number of disputes to be dealt with per annum or alternatively, the cost per consumer case is generally as follows:

Value of Goods or Services in GBP

Cost to Business in GBP

Up to £1,000

£100 plus VAT

£1,000 – £2,500

£125 plus VAT

£2,500 – £5,000

£150 plus VAT

£5,000 – £7,500

£200 plus VAT

£7,500 – £10,000

£250 plus VAT

Above this can be referred to ProMediate’s general panel

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ProMediate is certified by CTSI to provide mediation services for consumer/business disputes in the UK. The charges that ProMediate is authorised to raise for each dispute dealt with are as follows:

Cost to businesses:

Value of Goods or Services

Up to £1,000 – £50 plus VAT

– £2,500 – £75 plus VAT

– £5,000 – £100 plus VAT

– £7,500 – £125 plus VAT

– £10,000 – £150 plus VAT

Payment can be made here for individual disputes:

Business Membership fee £100 plus VAT – sign up here……

Cost to Consumers:

Value of Goods or Services

Up to £1,000 – £10 plus VAT

£2,500 – £25 plus VAT

£5,000 – £50 plus VAT

£7,500 – £75 plus VAT

£10,000 – £100 plus VAT

The above charges are based upon 1 hour of mediator time. Disputes above this value can exit the scheme and be dealt with by ProMediate’s general mediation service.

It is a term of the Click2Resolve scheme that the business and consumer must consent to use the service, before instructing us.

Payment by Consumers can be made here……

Mediation Set up Service

If you contact us without first getting the other person or business to agree to use our service, we will contact them to try to obtain their agreement.

In those circumstances we do charge a set up fee for this service. It is sometimes possible to resolve your dispute informally after one or two calls without even booking a mediation appointment!

When we receive an initial enquiry we crack on immediately trying to make contact with the other side in the dispute, emailing info, leaving messages on the telephone and even text messages. Our working hours are never 9-5 and we will often make contact at a time that meets the needs of our clients, evenings and weekends included.

Sometimes one side requires key information before they will agree to mediate. We will often liaise with all concerned to make sure this is shared. Once contact is made there will be further to-ing and fro-ing to set up the appointment, documents sent out and making sure everyone is comfortable with the process.

We charge the following fees for contacting the other party in this way:

Value of Goods or services:

Up to £1,000 – £10 plus VAT

– £2,500 – £25 plus VAT

– £2,500 upwards – £50 plus VAT

If you have already discussed your case with one of our mediators and need to pay your set up fee click below to pay by PayPal (if you need an alternative payment method please contact our office on 01928734630). (click below to make a payment)